Carolyn Marie Wallace

Carolyn was born in Mansfield, Ohio, on September 25, 1939, to Dr. Robert and Melverda Smith. Brother Bobby was born five years later in Columbus, Ohio. The family moved to New York City where Dr. Smith was a surgeon, and then to Washington, DC where Carolyn studied to be a registered nurse. She stayed in the Bethesda, Maryland area and worked as a nurse in a hospital. Later on, she worked for the Health Department.

Sam Wallace was a retired police detective who still wanted to be useful, so he worked for the water department checking water meters. One day he came into the office where Carolyn worked and asked her where the water meter was. She showed him. He kept coming back even though he wasn’t working, and the rest is history. At fifty years old she fell in love and married for the first time and was as dedicated to Sam as he was to her. When she retired, they moved to Sanibel Island, FL, until they moved to Wiley, GA, into a log house that she always wanted, to be closer to her aging parents who lived on Lake Burton. They became active members of St. James Episcopal Church in Clayton. After twenty years of marriage, Sam passed away in November, 2009, and is buried with Carolyn’s parents in St. James Memorial Garden.

Carolyn is survived by her cat, Wiley, her nieces and nephews: David Smith, Christy Carter, Michael Smith and Jennifer Smith, and six grandnieces and nephews, and sister-in-law Judi Smith Barrack.

A graveside service will be held on March 12, 2023, at St. James Episcopal Church Memorial Garden at 3pm.